Preview of DC relaunch week 02

Well the video will not load anywhere. Sadness. So I guess I'll just write out my reviews.



*Ahem* Hello. My name is Comic Kathy. I like cartoons and comic books. Since I have issues with video uploads at this time, I am going to change my plan on getting that method of review and move on to writing down how I feel. With all that said, lets look into the DC relaunch.

In case you were not aware, DC has decided to do a whole universe relaunch. A lot of people were afraid of this and for good reason. DC comics gave out little information on what was coming until close to the end, and even then the information around it was not enough to really know what they were doing. Well back on August 31, they gave the world their first relaunch title: Justice League. Now I will not be talking about Justice League in this post, rather I am saving it for the end of the time as its own full review. But for now let's preview the comics that came out on last week.

Action Comics: This comic was a hoot. The story is a set up story. What that means its that rather then set up for just a story arc, this story sets up the whole idea. It gives the reader a look into the new Superman character. Now it seems that he is not afraid to use batman-ish means to get corrupt big wigs to confess. The art style is very good, clearly making the comic flow smoothly from panel to panel. The art also does a great job at hiding the fact that Kent is Superman. More so then the glasses, the art style of the two characters is vastly different. The story is strong as a set up, showing the reader who this Superman is. It also does a great job setting up Superman foes for down the line as well. I did not comment on the foes in the art because, for the most part in this issue, they just stand around and drink coffee. No, it was the writing that made me fall in love with the villains here. On the downside, this comic does make me think of spiderman, at least on the life Clark has compaired to his life as Superman. Also, and I am not 100% on this, Superman seems to have lost his power to fly. While that is how he was back in the 1930's, todays reader (myself included) knows him to be able to fly. Not a big issue, but still one that is there.

Overall: If you like Superman, get it. As it looks, this will be a fun ride with the man on steel.

Animal Man: Ok. This art style FREAKS ME THE HECK OUT! I hate scary things. Really I do. And this comic is one big nightmare. Now the art style is not bad by any means. I do think that there was no other way the comic should have been drawn. There was only one real problem with the art I did have. That was Animal man's costume. It might be because I love "52" the comic series. Animal man was a big character in that and he did not wear the blue jumpsuit he does in here. The writing of this book is great. Again, it creeped me the heck out when you get to the second half of the book, but even then I really wanted to keep reading. And the ending, well, that is something you're going to have to read. Trust me on that.

Overall: Horror fans rejoice, this is the superhero comic for you.

Batgirl: This was written by Gail Simone. That alone got me excited for it. I have been a Gail fan since her run on Birds of Prey. Even her few DC animation episodes she wrote I loved. So when I got Batgirl, I was eager to read what she brought to the DC table. I can say that I love it. The comic story was well done with a few questions still lingering. One that I will spoil for you all is that in issue #1, no one says HOW Barbara Gordon got out of the her chair. That plot point not being talked about kinda upset me, but I quickly got over it. The art is also great. The villain is always prefected masked and the expressions on the characters are easy to read. Everything, to me, just fits together well.

Overall: I know I will be getting more of Batgirl.

Batwing: Vastly different from anything else, the art style is what sets this comic apart. But this style is not my taste. I like my comics to be a bit more cartoon-ish if that makes sense. Batwing is not cartoonish at all. Rather, Batwing is a work of fine art. Every page, every panel, seems like it should be framed and put on the wall. The colors do a great job of really making you feel the environment the characters are in. The story is about, well, African Batman. Now please don't hate me, but I did not enjoy reading this story. I felt that for Batwing, I might not have been the target. I am a white cartoon girl after all. Still, that does not mean you should avoid it if you are on the fence about it.

Overall: If you love the painted style of comic book, then you'll love the style here.

Detective Comics: Batman VS Joker. That's all I need to say.

. . .

Ok, I loved this comic. Joker is back and every page I saw him and read his words, I got Mark Hamhill's Joker. This Joker is the darker comic book Joker for sure, but that does not change the fact that I really felt the 90's Joker influence. In fact, in this comic, both in writing and in art, I felt that Batman took a back seat to the Joker. This issue was very much a Joker story first and a Batman story second. While I do say that, Batman is on more pages and you do get to see him try and piece together what the Joker is up to, but those pages, to me at least, are nothing special. I mean, that is what Batman does for all his foes. Joker is the fun one to read and is very much the one I remember from the book. Again, there is a huge twist at the end that you'll have to read yourself, but I was shocked when I read it.

Overall: Joker fans will fall in love with this first story. And even after this Arc, Batman is amazing in this book.

Green Arrow: Ok. I gotta say this right away. I miss Arrow's silly robin hood hat. It was just funny how he wore it and it never fell off no matter what he was doing. That bit aside, this comic is also a good set up story. We get to see Green Arrow, alone none the less, fighting the good fight. Arrow does have a new team here to help with the tech and arrows. The tech chick has very much an Oracle vibe to her. I really hope that DC does not make her the new Orcale. The art is very fluid. There is a fight in the middle of the book and each action went to the next with no magic jumping around. It was very easy to follow. The writing also made sure to give us the Green Arrow we all love. The cocky as all guy dressed like robin hood is still alive to my happiness.

Overall: A great start and great intro to the character.

Hawk and Dove: Art by Rob Liefeld. Yeah, I have seen his past stuff. But then I saw the art in this book. Rob's work has inproved, but is still nothing great. Now I love Dove. She is one of the sweetest people in all of the DCU. But even with my love of Dove, this comic is not good at all. The art is very wacky to say the least. The character mouths are always open and at times it seems like their proportions change a lot more then what you can get away with. Also the writing is dull. In this comic, nothing, and I mean nothing, happens at all. It is just Hawk being angry at everything and Dove being nice to everything. I know that is their base characters, but that does not change things.

Overall: Skip it for now. It might be better down the line, but now, only read it second hand.

Justice League International: This comic was great. The art was what I like, a comic book feeling with a touch of cartoon. But the art took a back seat in this book. The story was what I was loving. The story is the UN wants their own Justice League made up of heroes from different countrys. Well they got it, but no one on the team can really get along. This is what makes a good story, conflict between the team. Not enough to have them want to kill each other but enough to make it worth the read to see if they can come together in times of crisis. There is one member of this team who is missing and it is a big character. In this comic, there is no Skeets. The JLI is lead by Booster Gold himself, and there is no Skeets. What the heck?! Booster is always better with that little golden flying robot buddy of his.

Overall: Aside from the lack of Skeets, this comic starts off a fun ride that I hope will not end soon.

Men of War: War stories from DC characters. There are 2 stories in this book. The first is about Sarge. Rock. Rock is dropped into the battlefield and has to deal with war AND a super. A super who seems to be unaffect of bullets. The story shows his life right before that fight and turning. The end of the story is amazing. The second story is about the Navy Seals Human Sheilds. Try saying that 5 times fast. The story is about a recon group and some issues they have being behind enemy lines. These stories did not interest me much. Then again, I never went to war. I think these stories are for those people. The art for both, while different, was very well done. The Rock story used blacks and reds to great effect while the Seals story used mostly browns and whites to the same effect.

Overall: If you like a good war story, you'll enjoy this.

O.M.A.C.: One Man Army Corp. This story was very linar. There was one main focus, one scene, one big fight. There was a bit of character growth for the main character from his girlfriend but nothing between the two. O.M.A.C. himself seems to have a Hulk feel to him. A almost mindless monster who can not be stopped, smashing his way to a prize. While OMAC was being controlled by another, that doesn't change the fact that OMAC's mental state was lacking. The costume of OMAC is odd. All I did when I saw it was laugh. The colors and design of the costume are as silly as can be. But the weird costume aside, the art is good. It is the style I like at least.

Overall: I dunno about this one. I did not get into the story too much but it was not a bad read.

Static Shock: Fresh in the NYC, it is one of the hippest heroes DC got. The book was fun. There were about 4 parts to the overall story, and all 4 parts melded together very well. The super fight at the begining, the villain set up after that, the home life of Static, and the ending which I'll keep to myself. The art was very cool and captured that NYC dirty feel well. One thing I don't like is how everyone in the City is a jerk. You have to remember that NYC is where the Justice Socity worked and everyone was not mean in that comic.

Overall: I'm going to keep reading it. It was fun from page one to the end.

Stormwatch: This was an odd comic. There seems to be 3 plots at once and they all have a feel of coming together as one by the end of the story arc. One plot is a forced recruitment, another is a magic space horn, and the last is a space story. Some of the powers are weird. There is a guy who is a Citypath. Talks to cities. Yeah. Pretty much the only thing that made me look forward to this book was the Martian Manhunter. That quickly changed when I read the comic. This was warrior Manhunter, not the Spock-ish man who I love.

Overall: Nothing I feel like investing into. Too much going on and nothing happening.

Swampthing: This one is strange. Swampthing was a major player in the Brightest day storyline and that story seems to be continuing on here. The story is in 2 parts. One is the set up of the villian who is freaky as can be. The other is about the main character copeing with being the swampthing. Really, this story is again a set up story. It really feels that it is introducing the character rather then the arc.

Overall: A weird horror story.

Well those are my feelings on the first full week of relaunch titles. Make sure you come back Thursday when I'll post my feelings on this weeks titles.